Greetings from the sports desk located somewhere below the main deck of the Good Pirate Ship RedState. Sammy the Shark and Karl the Kraken have agreed, albeit briefly, to put away their fish crackers and don special apparel in honor of this post’s main topic.
Good thing Karl didn’t want pom-poms as well.
Anyway, let’s look at one Dohnte Meyers. He plays wide receiver. By all reason, Meyers should be spending the day today getting ready for whichever day job followed his post-college career. He should be poring over spreadsheets and reports. Back at Meyers’ house, mementos of his football career should be sitting on a shelf, his helmet and press clippings bringing back fond memories of what once was, but like most such dreams, it stopped right there. Instead, while Meyers is still getting ready for his day job today, there is the matter of an additional memento from his football career.
It’ll be available from the Cincinnati Bengals online gift shop just as soon as they get some #81 jerseys in stock.
Meyers started playing the wide receiver position comparatively late in his football career at Norcross High (it’s near Atlanta, Georgia), making the move when he was already a senior in high school. Given this fact, it is unsurprising that a major university or college did not recruit Meyers. In fact, neither did many minor universities or colleges. He managed to latch on at Presbyterian College in Clinton, South Carolina, on a … brace yourself … academic scholarship. In other words, the man has a brain atop his head, and he’s not afraid to use it.
While the logical route would be to take full advantage of what has been provided, namely get an education Monday through Friday and then have fun playing football on Saturday en route to a successful post-college career, Meyers had other ideas. Namely, not giving up on his dream of playing in the NFL. Fueled by an unshakable Christian faith and a strong family unit, after two years at Presbyterian, Meyers entered the transfer portal to see if he could raise his visibility. This was the spring of 2020. The big schools weren’t interested, but one of Meyers’ former coaches from his childhood spotted his name on the list and invited him to play at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi. Whether this was an actual step up from Presbyterian is a matter of debate, but it was an opportunity. The panicdemic canceled the 2020 season, but Meyers made the most of his chance in 2021 and 2022, excelling both on the field and in the classroom. Meyers was eligible for the 2023 NFL Draft.
No one called.
Meyers remained determined. A minicamp tryout with the Atlanta Falcons went nowhere. Meyers responded by redoubling his training. Moving in with his parents in Atlanta, Meyers spent his days during the summer of 2023 fiercely training and his evenings — more often than not extremely late into the evening — paying for his training by running Uber Eats and DoorDash deliveries.
Finally, a break. The coach supervising Meyers’ training heard that the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian Football League (CFL) were having an open tryout in Atlanta. Meyers dug up the $100 fee required and went. Some weeks later, after the conclusion of the 2023 CFL season in November, the Roughriders offered him a contract.
Injuries, first a broken hand and later a separated shoulder, limited Meyers’ playing time in 2024. He more than made up for it in 2025. In 15 games, Meyers caught 65 passes for 1,056 yards and eight touchdowns en route to helping lead the Roughriders to the 2025 Grey Cup championship.
Now on the NFL radar, Meyers worked out for several teams before signing with the Bengals in late 2025. Given that the Bengals feature one of the league’s premier one-two wide receiver punches in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Meyers definitely can’t be accused of trying to work his way into the NFL by latching onto a team with a soft receiver corps. It didn’t matter. Neither did his comparatively advanced age of a 26-year-old rookie. Meyers showed up. He showed out.
He made the team.
"This is just the beginning." pic.twitter.com/2q0j92paQM
— Cincinnati Bengals (@Bengals) August 30, 2026
In a world of empty flash and mindless cash, it’s good to see someone who worked for their dream, not giving up along the way, reap the reward for their effort. A Cincinnati Bengals fan I am not, but I’m definitely rooting for Dohnte Meyers.
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